Thlll-coupllng



o. L. GOEHRING.

Thil l-Goupling.

No. 224,422. Patented Feb. 10, 1880'.

F'g ili- If I/ WiTYLEEEfiE: Ingram D311 quire to be specially fastenedon.

UNITED STATES;

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L; eo HnI'Ne, 0E ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

THILL-COUPLING.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of'Letters Patent No. 224,422,datedFebruary 10,.1880; Application filed December 17,187.).

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. GOEHRING, of Allegheny, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new andusefulImprovements in ThillOouplin gs; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make anduse it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which formpart of this specification.

My invention relates to thill-couplings, and is an improvement on myinvention for which a patent was grantedme by the United States, datedDecember 23, 1879, No. 222,819. f

It consists in securingthe coupling-bolt more effectively by means of anappliance to the lever on the cam and on the head of the bolt, as willbe fully described hereinafter.

It also consists in the use of a stop to pre- 7 vent the cam from beingmoved too far in the wrong direction.

The accompanying drawings represent my invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a similar view, partly in section.Fig.3 is a vertical section, and Fig. 4 a detail view.

a represents the axle; b, the clip; a, the shackle; d, thecoupling-bolt, and e the thilliron. All of these parts may beconstructed in suitable manner and be of any form desired.

The shackle 0 may be entirely closed on top and bottom by the plates g,so as to form a box where a finely-finished coupling is preferred or theinner edges at both top .and bottom may be provided with the flanges t,which extend horizontally inward toward the center, but which are onlywide enough to form guides to hold the spring in place as it is movedback and forth. The shackle with these flanges can be much more easilymade, as they can be struck up in the dies, whereas the plates 9 re Thecam is made flat on its rear side, an d opcrates to push a springforward against the thill-iron, and is provided with a handle or lever,Z, by means of which the cam is turned in its bearings in the shackle.The holes through the shackle in which the ends of the cam are held aremade longer than is simply necessary to allow the cam to turn, for thepurpose of allowing the ends a slightly-forward movement, so that thebackward pressure of the spring will cause the cam to snap into positionwhen so turned that the full pressure of the spring is brought to bearagainst it, and thus the cam will be held against accidentaldisplacement.

The rounding or front edge of the cam, when turned forward, bearsagainst the sliding plate at, which has the two horizontal flangesosecured to its top and bottom edges. Between these two flanges issecured to the plate a metallic spring, r, which entirely incloses therubber block or spring 8 on its rear, top, and front edges, andpartially on its bottom. The front side of this spring 1 is made concaveto correspond with the shape of the thill-iron, and serves to protectthe rubber from contact with its rear end. This spring may either beardirectly against the rear end of the thill-iron, or

there may be a thin plate interposed between them, as may be preferred.This spring adds resistance to the rubber spring, and prevents therubber from becoming worn by friction against the thill-iron, and thusassists the rubber in maintaining a constant and even pressure, whichcannot be done where the gum spring is not thus protected. The riveto,which secures the spring to the plate, projects through on the back ofthe plate, and acts as a stop to prevent the cam from being turneddownward past its proper position.

The cam being journaled in oblong holes or slots in the shackle, it isat liberty, when it is turned by means of the hand-leversoas to exertits pressure against the spring, slightly to shift its axis from astraight to a diagonal line until the projection on the lever drops intoa corresponding slot in the head of the bolt, when it is p ushed back toits former position by the spring. The deviation from a straight lineoccurs when the cam-lever is brought down out- V side on the headof thecoupling-bolt, and ceases when the lever has reached this point, whereit is held either by a cavity conforming to the head of the bolt or by aprojection on the lever entering a slot in the head of the bolt. Thecam-lever then presses upon the head of the coupling-bolt, locks andconfines it, by the resistance of the spring and india-rubber combined,against the cam in the rear and the thilliron in front, and cannot beremoved without the application of a suitable key.

When the cam-lever is to be raised up or removed from the head of thecoupling-bolt to uncouple the thill, an outward pressure by means of thekey should precede or accompany the upward motion in order to lift itfrom its resting-place by overcoming the pressure of the metallic andrubber springs.

Instead of two springs, as here shown, a single rubber spring will actin the same manner, and it is the pressure of this spring which looksthe lever on the bolt-head.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- -means whereby it will lockitself on the head of the bolt, substantially asspecified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I 25 have hereunto set my bandthis 9th day of December, 1879.

G. L. GOEHRING, M. D.

Witnesses:

F. A. LEHMANN, Or'ro STEIN.

